Grand Canyon, Arizona: An RV Experience

Like all red-blooded Americans, our family decided to visit the Grand Canyon. In an RV.

Big mistake.

1. The a/c didn’t work. It was 107 in Phoenix. 2. We hit a sign (or two) and dinged the RV. 3. My husband (I didn't dare drive the thing) had to concentrate to keep the thing on the road in the desert wind.4. We forgot our skillet and the RV sites didn’t have grills.

The good news is: I discovered I’m not an RV person, so I guess that saves me thousand of dollars I could have spent on buying one.

The Grand Canyon, though, that was the highlight. I never thought I wanted to see it, but now that I have, I am glad I did. Theodore Roosevelt said it’s “one of the great sights which every American if he can travel at all should see,” and I agree with him.

How to describe it? I can use all the flowery words in the book. Majestic. Breathtaking. Unique. But what I love most of all is that it’s untouched, just like it was in Roosevelt’s speech. We haven’t set up condos, strip clubs and t-shirt shops on top and at the basin. It’s a rare wonder in this commerce-driven society.

And while the RV experience was less than ideal, roasting marshmallows with my family while the sun sets behind the Grand Canyon is an experience I wouldn't trade for all the fluffy hotel beds in the world.